Director Steven Soderbergh is a rare breed. He’s compiled an impressive resume, including both quirky indie fare ("Sex, Lies and Videotape," "Schizopolis") and mainstream hits ("Erin Brockovich" and "Traffic"). While his low-budget stuff takes more chances in terms of style and content, Soderbergh’s studio efforts are equally strong. They’re not shallow products of a Hollywood hack just trying to pay the bills. Each film has a unique visual style and presentation regardless of how much money was spent. Soderbergh’s more than a big studio gun-for-hire or a hoity-toity artiste. He’s a guy who loves to make movies. And he makes them extremely well.

It's a real treat to see so much top shelf talent in one flick.

Since 1998, Soderbergh has made one awesome flick after another. An impressive feat considering most directors have trouble just making one decent movie. "Out of Sight" (1998) is one of the few Elmore Leonard adaptations to capture both the humor and machismo so evident in the author’s work. "The Limey" (1999) is a lean and mean tale of revenge and redemption with a career-redefining performance by Terrence Stamp. "Erin Brockovich" (2000) elevates a "movie of the week" story by not exploiting its real-life subjects and unleashing a brassy Julia Roberts in her best work to date. "Traffic" (2000) is a complex saga of the modern drug trade made with a documentarian’s precision and a storyteller’s heart. And now he has directed "Ocean’s Eleven," a reworking of the Rat Pack classic about cool cats robbing several Las Vegas casinos in one night.

Soderbergh has scored again with "Ocean’s Eleven." It’s not as thought provoking as "Traffic" or contain the acting pyrotechnics of "The Limey," but it’s a groovy good time. I describe a lot of movies as cool — using the word as shorthand to describe something I enjoyed — but "Ocean’s Eleven" defines cool. Whatever your mind imagines "cool" to be — guys who don’t play by the rules, snappy clothes, jazzy music, the neon-lit Valhalla of a prime Vegas gambling den — this film has it.

George Clooney is Mr. Smooth, gliding through his scenes with breezy aplomb.

It’s not often anymore that you get to see an all-star cast strut their stuff in a movie that’s simply a glossy guilty pleasure. Nowadays, most flicks can barely afford two major stars and if they do spring for an A-List ensemble, it’s usually for some "event" movie that gets weighted down by it’s own self-importance. "Ocean’s Eleven" is not tackling world hunger or some crippling disease. It’s only message is to tell the audience to sit back and enjoy. You’ll have fun watching this flick because the cast looks like they’re having a blast making it.

The original film helped define cool for its own hep generation with a roster that included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. Audiences went to this movie more to watch the Rat Pack bounce wisecracks off each other and swagger across the screen in a martini-induced haze than to actually see them play characters in a feature film. The remake follows similar lines. We’re catching some of cinema’s current golden boys doing what they do best: looking cool while saying cool things and doing cool stuff. Like I said, this is a cool movie.

George Clooney ("The Perfect Storm" and "Out of Sight") steps into Sinatra’s wingtips as Danny Ocean, a charming thief with a plan to rip off three casinos at once. Clooney is Mr. Smooth, gliding through his scenes with breezy aplomb. He’s not really playing a character as much as he is enjoying being top dog in a big time Hollywood romp. Clooney’s a movie star without all the movie star attitude. His mellow smoothness sets the pace for the rest of the cast.

I don't know how Director Steven Soderbergh keeps doing it, but he has made his fifth consecutive awesome movie. Maybe he's sacrificing virgins to the gods of good movie mojo?

Danny assembles a colorful crew for his big job. First up is his trusty right hand man, cardsharp Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt from "Fight Club" and "The Mexican"). Rusty’s been making a fast buck teaching young Hollywood types how to play poker like pros. We get an amusing scene with him showing the ropes to WBers Joshua Jackson ("Dawson’s Creek"), Holly Marie Combs ("Charmed") and Barry Watson ("Seventh Heaven") as well as Topher Grace from Fox’s "That Seventies Show" — all playing tongue-in-cheek versions of themselves. You know every member of young Hollywood must have been lining up just for the chance to appear in a Soderbergh film. Better to get intentional laughs in a good movie than unintentional ones in moldy grout like "Teaching Mrs. Tingle."

Danny and Rusty select the rest of their team, from money man Rueben (Elliot Gould from "M.A.S.H." and Monica’s dad from "Friends") to pickpocket Linus (Matt Damon from "Good Will Hunting" and "Dogma") and demolitions expert Basher (Don Cheadle from "Traffic" and "Out of Sight"). The rest of the rank and file includes retired con man (Carl Reiner, who’s most famous for creating the "Dick Van Dyke Show" and Rob "Meathead" Reiner), and drivers/henchman/Mormons Virgil and Turk (Casey Affleck from "Drowning Mona" and Scott Caan from "Gone in 60 Seconds").

Julia Roberts' scenes with George Clooney fall flat. Her awkward delivery slows down an otherwise speedyfilm.

Actors like Clooney, Pitt and Damon usually headline a movie by themselves so it’s a real treat to see so much top shelf talent in one flick. Pitt acclimates himself especially well to playing second banana. He successfully gels with the ensemble and enjoys a tasty trait by eating in almost every scene. Perhaps this group looks like they’re at summer camp because none of them are under pressure to carry the whole picture on their own.

Once the crew is in place, our buddies go about planning their big heist: breaking into the maximum security vault at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, which also holds the cash for the MGM Grand and the Mirage. Complicating matters further is Tess (Julia Roberts from "Erin Brockovich" and "The Mexican"), Danny’s ex-wife who is now dating the ruthless Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia from "The Untouchables" and "Jennifer 8") — the owner of all three casinos. Danny’s still a little hung up on the gal, which could make things a little sticky — particularly since Benedict’s probably not going to appreciate him trying to make off with his dough and his woman.

The movie makes a big deal about Tess being this smart and sexy babe, but you couldn’t tell by Roberts’ performance. She is this movie’s weakest link. Gone is the saucy broad from "Erin Brockovich." Maybe it’s because she’s playing "the chick" in a "guy" movie, but Julia seems to be trying hard just to stay awake. Her scenes with Clooney are supposed to crackle with sexual tension, but they fall flat. She has some great lines, but her awkward delivery slows down an otherwise speedy film. I can only dream what Catherine Zeta-Jones or Charlize Theron — or even a more motivated Julia Roberts — could have done with this role.

Despite Danny’s lady trouble and the fact that the heist sounds practically impossible, you know this gang is going to make it. Would Hollywood go to all this trouble to make a movie about dapper crooks that flub the big score? And if they did, would you really want to see it? Okay, the original film did end on a bit of a down note, but that was then and this is now. Besides, you don’t watch this flick to see if they pull it off. You watch it to see how they pull it off. Director Soderbergh and Screenwriter Ted Griffin ("Ravenous" and "Best Laid Plans") deliver the goods, making "Ocean’s Eleven" a great caper film along the lines of "The Thomas Crown Affair," "The Sting" and "Sneakers."

I don’t know how Soderbergh keeps doing it, but "Ocean’s Eleven" is his fifth consecutive good movie. There aren’t many filmmakers out there that can manage such an accomplishment. What’s his secret? Is he sacrificing virgins in his basement to the god of good movie mojo? Was Soderbergh a blacklisted director in another life and now he’s enjoying some karmic retribution? Is every other movie out there so bad that it makes his stuff look even better by comparison? Or is he just that good? Whatever the reason, I hope this guy’s streak never ends.